FARHADDACI

DWALLA

PASSI
ONKNOWSNOAGE, ANDSODOESENTREPRENNEURSHIP!THEWORLDIS
I
NNCREASINGLYEXPERI
ENCINGYOUNDDRIVENPEOPLE,WHOHAVELI MI
TLESS
I
NNOVAITI
VEIDEASSPURRINGOUT,
BRI
NGINGBETTERFRUITATIONS.

"AJOURNEYOFATHOUSANDMI LESBEGI NSWI THONESMALLSTEP, "li

vi
ngbyt he
quote,FARHADDACI DWALLAt ell
sabouthi sf oundi
ngstepstowardsthepat hof
entt
repreneurshi
p.I
tdatesbackt owhenhewas13y ear
sol d,
ausualIndianteenager
i
nfestedbyt heconti
nuousst udypr essure,
tr
yingtooutl
iv
ehi spar
ent'
sexpect ati
ons.But
apartfr
om allthepressur
e,passionf ounditswaywhenaer omodelli
ngclasses
mannagedt ocomet oFarhaddi nterest.

"Fuel
lingpl
anesandfl
yingt
hatatdi
stantspacesgav
emeadri
ve.
..
.adr
ivet
ofuel
my
aviat
ionambiti
on"Far
haddsai
dspeakingattheTEDTal
kev
enti
n2013.

Thedri
vepossessedhim deepenoughtohookhimtoclassev
ery
day
,wher
eheat
tended
ever
ylect
ure,
unbri
dlesbyanyexter
nalci
rcumst
ances.

Returni
ngfr
om schooloneday ,
hismindwasst il
lbust
li
ngwiththethoughtsoft
he
aviat
ionwhi
l
ehecameacr osswebsit
ecr eat
ionontheint
ernet
.Suddenlythei
deaof
creat
inganavi
ati
onwebsi test
ruckhim andrangundeter
redforthenextfew
weeks.Havi
ngnopriorknowledgeaboutwebsi t
ecreat
ionandHTML, Farhadddi
dn'
tl
eti
t
shunhispassi
on,
ratherheupheldhi
spur sui
t.

From assmallas$10invest
ment,
Farhaddj
oinedt
heent
repr
eneuri
alranksatt
heageof
13,bui
ldi
nganonli
necommuni t
yaroundavi
ati
onandaer
omodelli
ng.Hehowever,
sol
d
thecommunitylat
erfor$1200.

Hi
sveryf
irstpr
ofi
tabl
edeal
furt
herboost
edmanysev
eral
vent
ures,
gradual
l
ypecki
ng
hi
sachi
evementlevel
stoari
se.

Afewy earslaterheheused$400t olaunchRockst ahmedi

a,anagencybasedi n
Maharasht r
a,adeptinwebdev el
opment,marketi
ngandadverti
sing,br
andi
ng,etc.The
successofRockst ahcloppedtheyoungentrepreneuri
ntot
hecent erspot
,gett
inghim
acknowlelgement,andal sowi
nninghi
m anintervewonCNNatj ustanageof17.
Despit
ebei ngav eryyoungcompanyofy ear,i
thasacompehensi veteam ofdeveloper
s,
marketersanddesi gnersacr
osstheglobe.
Far
haddwasalsotheyoungestguestl
ect
ureratI
IT'
sKhar
agpurannual
ent
repr
eneur
shipsummit.

Forhi
sdi
git
alconcept
sandst
rat
egi
es,
hei
sal
soapr
udr
eci
pient
oft
hef
oll
owi
nghonor
s:

 TheTel
egraph(UK)featuredFar
haddsecondont
hel
i
stof"
25
i
nter
netsuccessst
oriesaged25andunder"
.

 In2015,
Far
haddwasf
eat
uredi
nVERVE'
sFr
eshl
i
stofGenNext
achi
ever
s.

 Featur
edonCNN,CNN-I
BN,Li
veMi
nt,MSN.com,
Yahoo!Fi
nance,
The
economict
imesandTheTi
mesOfIndia,
tonameafew.

Heisn'
tj
ustanearlysuccessful
entrepr
eneur,
butalsoamot i
vatorwho
mani
fest
shisdri
veintoothersandshareshislessonstocumul ate
communit
ysuccess.Heisseent al
ki
ngonv ari
ousr eputedportalsandevery
nowandthenhealsotakenonsocial medi
atoshar ehisideaswi thvi
ewers.

Acidwal l
a'
smostr ecentbr andbui l
dingv ent uretookhimt otheChenab
vall
eyintheJammur egionofJammur egionofJammuandKashmi rwhere
hewasi nnv i
tedbytheI ndianGv ernmentt oar ouundhundredsofy outh."
I
rei
terat
edt hatIndi
i
asl ar gestyouthpopul at i
oni nthewor l
dandnev er
beforehavei nf
ormat i
on, knowl
edgeandt echnol ogybeenso
accessibl
e...
.Mygoal wasnott oj usttellthem aboutmyst ory,buttotel
l
them howt heycant urntheirpassioni ntot heirprofessi
on,"hesaid.

Oneoft hemostcrucial
advicesbytheyoungachieveris"
ify
ou'r
efai
l
ingand
notlear
ningfrom i
t,
you'
rewast i
ngy
ourtime.Youwilllear
nfarmorefrom
yoursmallestmist
akesthany ouwi
llf
rom yourgr
atestsuccess.
"

Far
haddAcidwal
l
ahasearnedaspotasasuccessf
ull
ent
repr
eneur
,andhi
s
pot
enti
alt
or i
sei
sundoubt
ed.

Spar
kofRockst
ah

Manyv entureshav ebeeni nit

iatedbyFar haddandeachoneofhi sv entures
hastakenhi mt othenextl evelorratheranotherlev elandal lthe
appreciationslefthim humbl e.Thishasmot i
vatedFar haddt oofferhiswork
undert henameoft hecompany .Farhadalsosaidi nt hefuturehei s
pl
anni ngt odiversi
fyandscal eupt hebusi nessbypr oducingHi ndilanguage
entertainmentpr ogramsaswel l
.Farhaddalsosai dt hatdev el
opedanawar d
winningt eam ofdesi gner
s, developers,consul
tnts,andmar kwtv i
sionaries
whoal lworkforonegoal -creatingawesomeness.
Hi
sleader
shi
pst
yle.
..

Farhaddnev ersatonasi nglei

deaf oralongt i
me.Ifanyi deast r
ikeshi
smind,
heact edoni timmedi ately
.Accordingtohi m,businessi sallabouttaki
ng
theleapandi tiswheny outaketheleap,youcanbei naposi ti
ont o
understandandt i
nkonwhatwoul dbet henext.Hislargervisionhavepaved
thewaywi t hsski l
landconfidence.Butjourneyoft housandmi l
esstart
s
withthefirstandonest ep,whichisthemosti mpor t
antone.Hehas
foll
owedt hewor dsofhismom, whoal way staughtFar haddtonott ocopy
anyoneandal way sthi
nkofownt hhingsandmov ef orwardwi th
that.
Farhaddof fershi
sempl oyeeswi t
hpr ofi
tsharingoppor t
uni ti
es.

Inspiteofhav i
ngasuccesf ul
landgr owingcompany ,Farhaddhasy et
decidedtost aybacki ncol l
ege.Thi si sbeingeducatedal waysput sinsafe
placeasbusi nessisal way sar isk.Educat i
onwhenputi nbusinesscr eat
es
wonder sinthebusi ness.Educat ionhel psinidenti
fyi
ngt hechallendgesand
deal wi
ht hem.Ev enselfeducat ioni snecessar yaswel earnfrom ourglory
andourf ail
ures.Formal educat i
onwi l
ldef i
nit
elyest
ablishthef oudati
onfor
l
ife,butselfeducationisr equiredf orbuildingamansi onont hat
founddationandent r
epreneur shiphel psindoingso.
 KESHAVBANSAL
KeshavBansal
becamet
hey oungestowneri
ntheIndi
anPremierLeague
(I
PL)whenheacquir
edt
henewl yfor
medRajkotf
ranchi
se,
which
event
uual
lywasnamesGuj
ratLions.

Bansal madeagoodbeggi nning,aheadoft heauctionwhenhepi cked

SureshRai naRav i
ndraJadeja,JamesFaul kner,BrendonmnCul l
um and
Dway neSmi t
hintheIPLplayerdraft.Hethenst r
enght ehnedhisteam by
addinghist al
lyofofgoodbuy sdur i
ngtheI PLauct i
on2016.Hehasal so
i
nvestedi nmanyI ndianyoungt al
entshaspur chasedaf ewexciti
ngaf ew
overseastalents.Bansalhasbeent heyoungestowneroft our
nament '
snine
yearhistory.

Intexwasfoundon1996byNarendr
aBansal
,st
artedsel
li
ngcomputer
electr
oni
csandlat
erbecameI
ndia'
slar
gestmobi
lehandsetdi
str
ibut
or.

ButKeshavstartedoffhi
sjourneeyattheageof19andwasgi v
enhisf i
rst
j
obatIntex.Hewasnotr eceivinganypayyandwasnotall
owedtoent erthe
mainoffi
ce.I
nani nt
ervi
ew, eshavspokeabouthi
sjour
neyandhisfr
anchi se.
Hesaid,
"Istart
edwi t
hlogisti
cs,l
oadi
ngandunloadi
ngboxesint
othe
tr
ucks.
Myf amilystr
onglybeleivswehavetostar
tfr
omm theground,nott op
tobott
om.

Keshavcompl etedhi sBachel or'sdegr eer om Manchest erBusinessSchool

study i
ingManagementi naccount i
ngandf i
nance. Heconsder st hatt obet he
turni
ngpoi ntofhi slife,"
Itwast hefirsttimeIwasbasedoutoft hiscount ry.
Youar eallbyy oursel,cleaningy ourroom, cleaningy ourbat hroom, cleaning
yourt oilet
,,cooki ngy ourownf ood, washi ngy ourowncl othes.Itwasanew
exper i
ence.I tgr oundsy ou-al t
heset hesesmal l steps, getti
ngint ot hebr and
atgroundl ev el.
I'
m bl essedt ohav eanamazi ngf ami l
y .
Fatherhasal way s
taughtmet ost aygr ounded. Aftersuspensi onofChennai SuperKi ngs,
Keshavbel ongst ot her ootofRaj kotandst ar t
edof fwi t
hanewf ranchise
GujaratLi ons.Hi scr icket i
ngi dolsincl udeSachi nTendul kar,openi ng
batsmanVi renderSehwagandt hecur renthot -favor i
teVi ratKohl iashe
resembl esKeshavorasheput si tKohl il
ooksl i
kehi m.Hei sexer ciseaddi ct
andl ov estopl aysquash.Keshavadded, “Spor tsdef ini
telyhelpy oubecome
ast r
ongerper son, bot hphy sicallyandi nternal l
y.Itdoesr eleasey ourst ress.
 I
tmakesmeabett
erindi
vi
dual
,abet
terper
son.”Heal
sobel
iev
esthe
f
ranchi
sehast
her
ightmemberst
otaketheleadi
nthi
stour
nament.

I
ttook24-
year
-ol
dKeshavBansal
,di
rect
orofmobi
l
ehandsetmakerI
ntexTechnol
ogi
es
I
ndi
aLt
d,al
lof20mi
nut
est
oconv
incehi
sfat
herNar
endr
aBansal
,chai
rmanand
managi
ngdi
rect
oroft
hecompany
,thathehadi
tinhi
mtor
unanI
ndi
anPr
emi
erLeague
(
IPL)f
ranchi
se.
Today
,Bansal
ist
hey
oungestownerofanI
PLt
eam wi
thhi
sGuj
aratLi
onsf
ranchi
se
f
rom Raj
kotpl
ayi
ngi
tsf
ir
stmat
chonMondayaspar
toft
heni
nthseasonoft
hepopul
ar
T20cr
icketl
eague.Guj
aratLi
onspl
ayedagai
nstKi
ngsXIPunj
abi
nMohal
i
,wi
nni
ngby
f
ivewi
cket
s.
“
Lasty
ear
,Iwasi
ndi
scussi
onswi
thBCCI(
Boar
dofCont
rol
forCr
icketi
nIndi
a)f
ora
l
ong-
ter
m sponsor
shi
passoci
ati
onf
orI
ntexasanon-
groundsponsor
.Thatwassi
x
mont
hsbef
oret
heauct
ions.Coi
nci
dent
all
y,BCCImember
sbouncedof
fthei
deaf
or
bi
ddi
ngf
orat
eam.Igotbackt
otheof
fi
ce,
resear
chedandmadeaf
ormal
present
ati
on
t
omyf
ather
.Itt
ookus20mi
nut
est
odeci
deandmyf
atherhassuppor
tedmet
hrough
t
his,
"sai
dBansal
.

ForBansal
juni
or,
IPLi
samast
erst
rokei
nmar
ket
ingev
eni
fitmeansanassoci
ati
on
t
hatl
ast
sonl
yfort
woy
ear
s.“
Int
exTechnol
ogi
esandI
PLhav
ethesamet
arget
audi
ence—t
hey
out
h.Wehav
ebeenmaj
orl
yfocusi
ngoncr
ickett
oful
fi
lmar
ket
inggoal
s.
Wi
thGuj
aratLi
ons,
wehav
efur
therst
rengt
henedt
heassoci
ati
onandmadei
tmor
e
meani
ngf
ul.
.,
"sai
dBansal
inani
nter
viewpubl
i
shedi
nMi
ntl
astweek.
Headdedt
hatt
het
eam managedt
ogetal
otoft
ract
ionbot
hfr
om sponsor
sandf
ans.
“
IPL’
sreachandpopul
ari
tyi
sunchal
l
engedandi
tist
heper
fectpl
atf
ormf
oref
fect
ivel
y
r
eachi
ngoutandconnect
ingwi
thconsumer
s.Ev
ent
houghwear
eanewt
eam,
Guj
arat
Li
onshasgener
atedt
remendousr
esponse.
.